The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word HYENA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
H
Y
E
N
A
More clues leading to the result HYENA
- Scavenger has briefly to contain hunger
- Carnivore long among the last ones in South Africa
- Carnivore had endless desire to feed
- Animal has endless hunger within
- Possessing urge, laugh? This creature might
- Why we leave wife with an upset animal
- One scavenging in hard currency area
- Husband with urge to acquire a wild animal
- Scavenger's triumphant exclamation, pocketing money
- Hard currency put together by a scavenger
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "source of laughter?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case source of laughter? = hyena.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does HYENA mean?
HYENA noun- Any of the medium-sized to large feliform carnivores of the subfamily Hyaeninae (genera Hyaena and Crocuta), native to Africa and Asia and noted for the sound similar to laughter which they can make if excited.
- (Sub-Saharan Africa) A man that performs ritualized sex acts with recently widowed women and menarchal girls.